A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Iraqi embassy in Kabul on Monday and militants breached the compound, Afghan officials said, in a complex hours-long attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
All attackers had been killed and the compound secured roughly four hours after the assault began, Afghanistan’s interior ministry said, adding all embassy staff were safe and only one policeman wounded “slightly”.
There were conflicting reports about how the attack unfolded. The interior ministry said at least four militants had attacked the embassy, beginning with a suicide bomber who detonated his vest at the compound entrance. “The quick-response police forces arrived in time and evacuated the Iraqi diplomats to safe place. No embassy staff have been harmed, only one policeman was wounded slightly,” a ministry statement said.
An Afghan security official at the site of the attack and a number of witnesses, however, suggested the attackers were dropped by a car nearby, who then stormed the embassy building with hails of bullets, before penetrating and detonating themselves inside.
